Oct. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Avaloq Group AG, a closely held Swiss
banking software developer, is recruiting 75 graduates from
Scottish universities for a development center to be opened in
Edinburgh that will create 500 jobs over the next five years.

Avaloq chose Edinburgh for its second development site
because Scottish universities produce 2,000 computer graduates a
year and the Scottish capital is the U.K.’s second-biggest
financial center, the Zurich-based company said in an e-mailed
statement issued by the Scottish government today.

“Avaloq’s commitment to recruit 75 new graduates from
Scottish universities is terrific news for new graduates in
Edinburgh and across Scotland,” Scottish First Minister Alex
Salmond said in the statement. Locating in Edinburgh “is
testament to the high quality of Scottish education and enhances
the strength of the city’s international reputation for finance
and IT services.”

The Swiss company, which was founded more than 25 years
ago, supplies 75 banks in 20 countries with specialist software,
according to its website.

“Edinburgh came top of our global search for several
reasons,” Chief Executive Officer Francisco Fernandez said in
the statement. “One of the most important factors was due to
the wealth of potential graduate talent available in Scotland
and the number of universities offering excellent degrees in
software engineering.”